DIC latest - the largely wild speculation thread

[Rafa Shankly]

Oliver Holt was just on Newstalk in Ireland.

Claims he has it in good faith that Hicks is negotiating with DIC. Gillet and himself have fallen out completely and Gillet will be selling. Hicks has first option on his shares but does not have the cash to purchase. Claims that he is hoping to sell the majority to DIC but stay on as a significant shareholder on the board.

Said its important to read the text of the statement today, but is key that he has not mentioned his relationship with Gillet and that he has not denied that he is in talks with any other parties about a potential sale.

No smoke without fire?

how reliable is he?

[jonymadness]

how reliable is he?

Dont know, the guys quizzed him and he claimed it was genuine and that they are not trying to stir **** as Hicks suggested. He said the answers are in Hicks statement for those who dont want to believe, stating that he hadnt denied the key points.

[AFII]

how reliable is he?

Holt has won the prize as the best sport journo in the country a couple of times.

[Rashid]

Holt is a good journo, a Manc but a quality journalist.

[AFII]

Holt is a good journo, a Manc but a quality journalist.

I thought that he is a red or I'm mixing him up with the other journo that writes for the Mirror?

[Rafa Shankly]

Dont know, the guys quizzed him and he claimed it was genuine and that they are not trying to stir **** as Hicks suggested. He said the answers are in Hicks statement for those who dont want to believe, stating that he hadnt denied the key points.

holt is a mirror man aint he,tomorrows mirror may shed some more light on it.

[Fowler_God]

I thought that he is a red or I'm mixing him up with the other journo that writes for the Mirror?

I always thought he was a red, just for the fact that he predicts us for the league every year

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

I always thought he was a red, just for the fact that he predicts us for the league every year

He is.

Henry Winter is a manc, so that's perhaps where the confusion comes from.

[wishiwasascouser]

And so it goes on.....

Tom Hicks in denial but Liverpool are braced for Dubai takeover

Oliver Kay

Discussions will continue between Tom Hicks and Dubai International Capital (DIC) over the coming weeks, despite the Liverpool co-chairman’s vehement insistence last night that he is not about to sell his stake in the club. The Arab investment group is expected to become a co-owner of the Merseyside club next month by purchasing the 50 per cent stake held by George Gillett Jr in the first phase of a takeover process that will test the strength of Hicks’s latest denials.

The Times reported yesterday that, although Hicks intends to retain some of his shares and some of his influence at the club for the immediate future, he and Gillett, his co-owner, are willing to grant DIC permission to examine Liverpool’s accounts with a view to launching a takeover bid next month. Hicks denied those reports yesterday, claiming that they had been “planted . . . by parties with their own self-interested agenda” and that he is “personally, professionally and financially committed to the club and its supporters”, but numerous sources insist that his partnership with Gillett is finished and that DIC will start the first phase of its takeover within weeks.

At least Hicks’s latest statement did not deny that discussions are taking place. DIC’s interest never went away after it was gazumped by Hicks and Gillett a shade more than 12 months ago and although DIC turned down the Americans’ invitation to buy a 15 per cent stake in the club after a meeting in October, discussions have taken place behind the scenes since the start of this year, particularly since January 25, when Hicks announced a £350 million refinancing deal that brought them stability in the immediate future but left their regime looking all but unsustainable in the longer term.

Gillett, who was the catalyst behind the initial takeover, with Hicks arriving on the scene late in the process, conceded some time ago that the joint partnership was not working because of numerous tensions that had arisen between them. Gillett, the owner of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team, has subsequently “all but disappeared”, according to sources, declining to put his name to Hicks’s frequent statements – even that relating to the refinancing deal - and making clear to DIC his willingness to sell his 50 per cent stake.

His son, Foster, who was initially dispatched to Merseyside as a “link man” between the owners and Rafael BenÍtez, the manager, has spent the past month in Montreal, apparently with no plans to return to Britain.

Hicks, who was originally seen as the silent partner in the protest, has proved to be anything but. Even if he and BenÍtez have tried to build bridges since their infamous falling-out in November – when Hicks, in a series of interviews, declared that it was “time for Rafa to quit talking and concentrate on coaching the players we have” – the Texan has made himself deeply unpopular at Anfield.

Tom Hicks Jr, his son, has at least shown willing to ingratiate himself with the locals, but his attempts to do so backfired on Saturday, when he was confronted by supporters in a pub near Anfield after the 3-2 victory over Middlesbrough in which Fernando Torres, the club’s record £26.5 million signing, had scored a hat-trick.

While Gillett is expected to sell up within weeks, Hicks is determined to retain the majority of his stake for the immediate future, but DIC is looking for – and hopes to obtain – guarantees that he will sell out completely at a later date. Hicks spoke to DIC officials on a trip to Dubai last week and then, more significantly, spoke to their financial advisers on Thursday and Friday. The two parties remain some way apart on various issues, not least on Hicks’s wish to be seen as the senior partner in any coalition, but a variety of sources – by no means all of them with self-interested agendas – continue to indicate that the Anfield investment saga is about to enter a new chapter.

[Venton]

I always thought he was a red, just for the fact that he predicts us for the league every year

He is just putting the hex on us every year. I used to blame Thatcher and after that Dick Silver, but it is definitely Henry at the moment who is doing us.

[calvoboy]

I heard that Kraft is going to buy 35% of Hicks's shares by noon a week on thursday, and that Steve Morgan is also involved in a minor role with Kenny Dalglish taking over as CEO, and Mourinho being lined up as manager as of this summer. The only stumbling block is that Mike Jeffries of L4 doesn't want to give up his shareholder rights by jumping in bed with Steve Morgan. That's why DIC are struggling in their negotiations with Gillett, and why David Dein isn't happy with the situation having been keen on the CEO job himself.

Or something like that.

Either way Parry is ****ed.

[Venton]

I heard that Kraft is going to buy 35% of Hicks's shares by noon a week on thursday, and that Steve Morgan is also involved in a minor role with Kenny Dalglish taking over as CEO, and Mourinho being lined up as manager as of this summer. The only stumbling block is that Mike Jeffries of L4 doesn't want to give up his shareholder rights by jumping in bed with Steve Morgan. That's why DIC are struggling in their negotiations with Gillett, and why David Dein isn't happy with the situation having been keen on the CEO job himself.

Or something like that.

Either way Parry is ****ed.

That's the spirit! I'm going to bed happy now

[Dhav]

I heard that Kraft is going to buy 35% of Hicks's shares by noon a week on thursday, and that Steve Morgan is also involved in a minor role with Kenny Dalglish taking over as CEO, and Mourinho being lined up as manager as of this summer. The only stumbling block is that Mike Jeffries of L4 doesn't want to give up his shareholder rights by jumping in bed with Steve Morgan. That's why DIC are struggling in their negotiations with Gillett, and why David Dein isn't happy with the situation having been keen on the CEO job himself.

Or something like that.

Either way Parry is ****ed.

You one of the few people still on KT mate?

[calvoboy]

You one of the few people still on KT mate?

Nah - just having disturbing flashbacks

Did I miss anyone who's been linked with a takeover in the last 18 months? (not counting Shinawatra as he's already bought City!)

[Venton]

Nah - just having disturbing flashbacks

Did I miss anyone who's been linked with a takeover in the last 18 months? (not counting Shinawatra as he's already bought City!)

That was pretty much it I think. And I congratulate you on your economy of style - perfectly crafted, we need a lot more of that on here.